When Blue Blood Turns Red
by thenumbertwentyseven
Summary: The androids are in camps. The barricade is up. Markus has refused Perkins attempt at "peace". Yet I have one more question, how far would the humans go to accomplish their mission?
1. The Barricade

**Welcome!**

 **Ever wondered, "Huh, what would have Perkins done when faced not only against the androids, but a human as well?"**

 **Well, I'm here to answer that question.**

 **Disclaimers: - I don't own D:BH or any of its characters, just my OC and interpretaion of the storyline.**

 **\- This is the story I have the most motivation for right now, but I'm also a perfectionist so I'm sorry for sporadic updating and many chapter edits, I promise we'll get there eventually!**

* * *

The snow swirled by in flurries around where she hid. Lights erected by the army shone bright around the giant structure in the middle of the square, but they seemed to only be fixated on who was _inside_. She watched the deviant leader, Markus, leave the safety of the barricade to talk with the man from the FBI, reflections of the surrounding glow rippling on his tense form.

Her heartbeat thudded loudly in her ears.

Her sharp eyes flickered away from the negotiation, back to the barricade. He was in there somewhere, assuming he hadn't been killed in the initial protests. She shook the thought away before it could take root, she had _seen_ his coat flash by when the journalists began filming.

She looked back at Markus when he flinched, his multicolored eyes cast downward in a rare demonstration of pain. She could almost see the smirk begin to form on Perkins long face and she clenched her fists to keep from running out before it was time.

But the face of determination was back a mere moment later and she caught a snippet of his final words: "-rather _die_ here, than betray my own people."

She closed her eyes with a shaky sigh. It was now or never. She opened her eyes to see Markus alone, turning back towards his people. She waited. Waited. Once Markus had climbed back over the wood and into relative safety, she rose from her frozen crouch and stepped forward into the snow.

* * *

"It's no use Professor Josh, my brain just isn't hardwired for this kind of stuff," she mumbled, glaring down at the Jane Austen novel. "Nonsense", the android scoffed in reply, "you're one of the brightest students here, I see no reason for you to not complete this assignment."

She glanced up at him - _him_ not _it,_ as her peers liked to refer to him - and raised her eyebrows. "Maybe I am, but there's a reason I got a full ride for _engineering_ instead of writing essays on ancient books." she countered, her glare softening

"Miss this book is hardly ancient, it was only published in the early-"

"Yeah, yeah, you know what I mean." she interrupted him, holding back a smile at how his LED turned yellow before realizing yes, he did know what she meant.

This was where she usually found herself on a weekday evening, tucked away in the library of Wayne State in Detroit with one of the library's resident androids assisting her with pointless homework. Most often that meant Josh, one of her college's lecturers who was surprisingly good at writing English Literature essays.

She was just trying to hold out until the golden light outside the giant windows grew dim and she could finally call it night. Her friends had promised a fun night together with help from an upperclassmen party and she was anxious to see what all the fuss was about.

Josh brought her back from her head by shoving her laptop closer in a weak attempt to get her to focus. She sighed, turning back to her book and trying once again to sound like she knew what the author was talking about.

* * *

Her steps brought her farther into the bright light, farther from the safety of the shadows and the city. Farther into danger. But she couldn't stop now, those people inside the barricade were _alive_ and as much as she hated it at the time, history class had taught her all about these kinds of mistakes.

Flashes of light began to accompany each footstep as the journalists caught sight of her. She took a deep breath but didn't falter, continuing forward even as she drew towards the army and saw guns begin to train on her form.

She felt small out here.

Now she was in the empty area between the barricade and the men with guns. The gasps of shock from the journalists and FBI suits were almost drowned out by the chopping of a helicopter from far above, it's spotlight racing to enfold her within its brightness.

She could hear echoes of Markus speaking to his people as she brought up her arms as though to shield the androids from their demise.

Her lips trembled from the cold for the first time, the gusts from the helicopter and the sight of more guns being raised to position cutting right through her layers. She saw the man who had talked to Markus raise his hand in what she recognized as a signal not to fire.

She closed her eyes in relief for a heartbeat, snapping them open when she heard footsteps approach. A person in uniform stood across from her, their features obscured by their mask. They held up a device to her body, and she raised her chin defiantly when she recognized it as a temperature scanner.

They turned and jogged back to their superiors, not before she caught the flash of green come from his scanner.

More gasps began to ring out from behind her, and she realized she could no longer hear Markus's voice echoing around the plaza. She glanced behind her towards the people she was defending, protecting. Watched as they pointed with shock and confusion. Watched as a group of androids rose up to the center of the wall. Watched as Josh, Marcus, and Simon recognized her.

Watched as Marcus and Simon held Josh back from jumping over the barricade.

* * *

She watched as a couple of her friends emerged from the front door of the grand house. She, Lilly, and Jonathan saw them wave goodbye to the dancing figures and slip into the backseat. "Ooh, what do you have there?" Lilly squeaked excitedly as Jonathan maneuvered the car out of the neighborhood and back to their dorms. "Some beer, a bottle of vodka, and this type of strawberry champagne they had in the back." Eli, one of their friends in junior year, answered Lilly.

"Good haul man." Jonathan nodded from the driver seat. He turned to her in the passenger seat next to him, winking, "You're gonna have a great night if we got all this." She rolled her eyes at his teasing, turning away so he wouldn't see her smirk.

"Go easy on her Jon, she's just going to have some light beer to start." Isabelle reprimanded her little brother, "And it's just going to be that for a very long time, got it? We wouldn't want to ruin her perfect college life." Issa shot a grin at her and she groaned, putting her head in her hands.

They arrived at Issa's senior dorm, talking animatedly about each other's classes and gossiping about Eli's supposed girlfriend all the way up the stairs. Eli and Isabelle claimed the vodka for themselves once they were finally settled around the TV, leaving the beer and champagne for Jonathan and Lilly. Jon tossed her a beer, warning her despite all his jokes to "take it easy with this stuff, especially since you're only 19."

She rolled her eyes at him but grudgingly agreed. Isabelle was right, she couldn't afford for her brain to make the stupid choice the one time it might matter most.

The alcohol burned the first couple sips, and it took several trips to the bathroom for fear of throwing up and fits of laughter from the older kids to finally stomach down a can. She could see why her father avoided the stuff at all costs.

The champagne was only slightly better, so she spent the rest of the night laughing at the increasingly silly games and being there for when Issa or Eli took a sip too quickly.

It was nearly 3 in the morning when she left, supporting a wilting Lilly on her walk to their dorm. At least she didn't have class until 3 that afternoon. It wasn't a long walk, and thanks to the city's androids it was a clean one. She wished she could tip some of them sometimes, but they always had refused, spouting their "androids don't require monetary compensation" line.

They were approaching the doors to their building when she heard a crash in the nearby alley. Lilly glanced up from her daze and pushed off of her friend, making her way inside the doors. She made to follow but paused again when she heard the laughing.

She'd heard laughing like that before. It wasn't borne of amusement, fun, or even love. It was a cold, hard thing.

She hardly needed to think before she changed course, straight for the alley. As she got closer she could hear more laughter, men yelling, something crashing. She stuck to the wall of her building stepping lightly, though she guessed the men might be drunk enough to not notice her creeping up on them. She finally reached the edge and glanced inside, expecting to see a bunch of her classmates using a trash can as a punching bag or throwing each other around in a not so silly drinking game.

Oh, how wrong she was.

With blue bruises already forming on his dark skin and blue blood seeping from underneath his uniform, Josh was looking a little worse for wear.

* * *

She caught North's eye before she went running to Josh's side, managing to flick her eyes toward Josh and give an almost imperceptible shake of her head. The woman nodded in understanding before running in front of Josh and pushing him back.

She tried to ignore the sounds of him shouting for her.

She turned her eyed back towards the men with guns to find the man who had spoken with Markus walking towards her. She involuntarily took a few steps back in retreat, before gathering her resolve and raising her chin to meet the man's steely gaze.

She kept her arms spread protectively, not daring to look back and check on Josh.

The man stopped a ways ahead of her, regarding her with a cold curiosity. She spoke before he could order her away, "You will not kill these people." She was proud, her voice didn't shake even a little bit. He showed no signs of surprise or acknowledgment, merely glancing behind her to where Josh was still struggling against his friends.

He brought his gaze back to her before speaking, "Hello miss", she tensed at his casual tone, "my name is Richard Perkins, I'm leading the case against deviants and you happen to be in the middle of a crime scene." His face became colder before continuing, "I'm going to ask you to allow us to escort you from the premises."

She almost raised her eyebrows at him in disbelief. Did he really think that would do it? Humoring him, she tilted her head as though considering. His pleased look at her action was quickly wiped off when she finally responded, "No can do mister, those people in there are _alive_ and there is no way I'm leaving them behind."

Perkins long face finally contorted into a glare, his eyes flickering back behind her once again. "That android there seems to know you," he remarked conversationally, "how about you come with us willingly, and we don't shoot him down." Her heart clenched at the thought, but again she pushed it away before it could show on her face.

Ever so slightly, she flicked her fingers down, then her arms came down a fraction. Hopefully, Markus and the others would understand what she meant.

Perkins finally allowed a smirk to flash across his features, ordering two soldiers forward with a flick of a finger.

* * *

Her mouth popped open in a silent gasp at the sight of her friend bleeding in an alleyway. The men around him each had drinks in their hands and were taking turns swiping at Josh, most with their bare hands but a select few had knives on them.

She pulled away from the gap and hid behind the wall. _He's just an android._ she repeated to herself, _He's going to be fine, he can be replaced, he can be fixed, he's just a machine, just an android just an android just an android._ But the more she said it to herself, the more she knew that it wasn't true.

Not at all.

So instead of following Lilly inside and helping them both to bed, she grabbed her pocket knife and rounded the corner of the alley. At first the men didn't notice her, small and dark-haired as she was she almost blended right into the night. Josh recognized her first, his LED blinking red and his mouth opening to say something before he was slapped across the face.

The sight made her flinch, and the sudden movement finally clued the group in that she was there. She quickly counted the 7 men, some of them she knew from classes and others she didn't. "Get away from him." her voice shook as she brandished her knife.

They all glanced at each other, surprised at first until the biggest began to chuckle. Soon they all joined in and the alley echoed with their cold laughter. Her hand had begun to shake. One of them brought his empty beer bottle against the wall next to him, the glass breaking until he held a jagged-edged weapon. He took slow, deliberate steps toward her, only stopping an arm's length away.

"Oh yeah sweetheart?" his breath stunk of alcohol, and she wasn't sure if it was just the cold she was shivering from anymore. The group around them continued to laugh as the man in front of her reached with his free hand to touch her hair.

She jerked away, bringing her knife up again to cut him if he tried anything. Her flinch had brought another round of raucous laughter, and the man smiled at her, coming forward her again before being stopped by something from behind.

His smile fell off his face, and the laughter died off around her.

The man turned around to find Josh behind him, standing with a hard glare on his face. Blue blood seemed to coat his actions. Soon red seemed to coat his hands.

After the man who had touched her was on the ground and was no longer fighting, she grabbed Josh's wet hand and tugged him away from the alley. The rest of the group would come to their drunken senses soon enough. She ran to her building with him in tow, glancing around the otherwise silent campus for any prying eyes.

Seeing none, she turned back to Josh as he let himself be brought inside. His eyes were trained on her form, but he seemed to be in shock. _But androids don't feel shock_. She took another look at him once they made it to the elevator, his LED was still on red even with the danger past and his hands were shaking.

"Josh." she said calmly, waiting until his eyes had focused on her before continuing, "Are you okay?" His LED flickered to yellow as he looked down at his bloodied hands, and then back to her face. "Yes, I- I am… Are you?" he suddenly looked very concerned, his eyes checking to make sure she had no injuries before his LED finally returned to blue.

"Yes I'm fine," she assured him, "you're the one who's going to need medical attention." Josh looked up again, jumping a little as though surprised to find they were already in her room. She was already moving around, gathering some towels and a water bottle before bending down to wash his hands. "I'll go tell the school about this tomorrow and they can-" "NO!" he shouted, and she jumped back in surprise. "Don't tell the school, please, they'll send me to cyberlife to get fixed and then they'll know I'm- that I'm a-" "Shhh, shhh, hey it's okay, I won't tell them," she reassured him, bending down beside him again. His LED had returned to red and he was shaking.

He looked to her in confusion, "You... won't? You won't tell them?" he seemed appalled, he seemed… human. She recognized the signs, they had been learning how to avoid this in their models in her engineering course. Software engineering.

Josh was a deviant.

"No of course not," she soothed him, relieved when his LED went blue again, "I promise." He nodded, casting his eyes down when she went back to wiping the blood - of both kinds - off of his trembling arms. She noticed his eyebrows crease in confusion and waited patiently for a question to be asked. "Then-" he started, glancing up at her again, "What _are_ you going to do?"

She paused her ministrations, staring at him blankly. What _was_ she going to do? It wasn't as though she had a plan right now, and she had barely known what she was doing when she brought him into the safety of her dorm. He noticed her hesitation, shaking his head sadly and moving as though to scoot away from her.

She panicked, coming back to herself just in time to grab his arm before he shifted away. "I'm going to help you, dummy." she heard herself say. She had no idea where the words had come from or what made say them but there they were. There she was.

She turned away in embarrassment when his incredulous eyes found hers, throwing the dirty rag she was using in the trash.

She was shocked when she turned from getting him another towel to find his bruised face streaked with tears.

"Thank you, Amelia."

* * *

If there was one thing humans were, it was predictable. Amelia had seen some source code of the new Connor prototype in her software class, a CyberLife representative explaining how the very base of its- _his_ \- code revolved around the mission.

Ingrained in that base code was the mission to save or protect human lives by any means necessary.

Now if Amelia let herself be carted off to some holding facility, away from the protest and the barricade, all the androids would certainly be killed. If Amelia put herself between the humans and the androids, however, the humans would have no choice.

Hold off, or let the world see that humans would kill their own kind to accomplish their mission.

So Amelia did the most logical thing to do in her situation.

Run.

She looked to Perkins smirking face, giving him a smirk of her own before punching him square in the nose and turning on light feet. She was a lot braver than she had been just three weeks ago when she had struggled just to hold a knife against a group of drunk idiots.

Amelia ignored the shouts of surprise and rage behind her, finally being able to check on her friend. He still had Markus and Simon holding him, but he had quieted down until he saw Amelia racing straight for him. His face was panicked with fear for her as he once again struggled against his friends.

Amelia ignored him, running for the section she had seen Markus climb through. North seemed to know what Amelia had in mind, she ran around the group holding Josh and knelt down at the edge of the wall, thrusting a hand out for her to grab.

The footsteps behind Amelia seemed like a stampede: harsh, threatening, and gaining with every step. But she wasn't on her college's track team for no reason. She finally reached the wall, reaching out a hand for the woman and finally hearing the deafening cheers of androids coming from inside the structure.

She felt a tremor as one of the soldiers behind leaped out to grab her, but it was too late. His gloved hand barely brushed her jacket before she was pulled up, over, into, down, and finally, _finally_ into the arms of Josh. Josh who was _safe_ and she was finally _safe_.

Josh abruptly pulled his warmth away from Amelia, his hands resting on her shoulders as though he could hold her in safely on his own. The small action reminded her of another time he had done this, so long ago now. He shook her lightly, "What are you _doing_ here?" he demanded. "Why are you not safe, at home?"

Amelia could barely see her friend through her tears, much less talk through them. She just shook her head in defeat, bringing him back forward to hug him. He wrapped his arms around her in turn, and she could feel his cheek resting on her hair.

A voice cut through their reunion, "Josh, sorry to interrupt, but what is Amelia doing here?" Josh raised his head to look at Markus's stern expression. Amelia suddenly remembered where she was and what she was there to do, and pulled herself away from Josh.

She turned to Markus as well, taking comfort from the warmth of Josh's arm still around her. She took a deep breath, steeling herself for disagreement, before speaking to the android leader. "Perkins was about to launch an attack, despite all the reporters." she began, shifting her eyes to the ground below, "I knew they wouldn't hesitate to stop the threat, as long as they could do most whatever they wanted without any consequences."

"However," she brought her eyes back up, relaxing when she caught Simon, beside Markus, nod for Amelia to continue, "if there was something in the barricade that they couldn't attack, couldn't destroy." she felt Josh tense beside her, "They might be forced to hold back." Amelia couldn't turn to her friend beside her, choosing instead to watch Markus's steady face consider her words. He looked up at her, his mouth dropping open, "So what you're saying is-"

"The Connor prototype's base code ordered that he value, protect, and save human life at all costs. If an android is held to that standard, the humans who created him should feel the same way."

She continued, "I'm a human." North's eyes narrowed. "As long as I'm in here, and the reporters out there saw me enter willingly, there's no way the army will be authorized to attack. If my life is on the line and they still risk trying to kill you all, there could be even more of a civil war on the military's hands."

Amelia finished explaining, anxiously watching as North stepped forward to her. "She's… a human?" she asked suspiciously, turning to Josh for an answer. Amelia felt him nod beside her and felt the cold of the air around them concentrate in North's gaze. She glared at them for a second more before turning back to Markus and whispering earnestly, "She's a human Markus, we can't trust her." Markus barely glanced down at his friend, keeping his piercing eyes on Amelia.

"She's probably been sent here by the army to attack from the inside, you saw her talking to Perkins. I thought she was another android finally _fighting_ for our freedom but-" "But she's a human." Markus interrupted her, finally taking his eyes off of Amelia. "She's a friend of Josh's, a good acquaintance of mine, even _you_ worked with her to fight for our cause, and I trust that she's here to protest the camps as well."

He phrased it as a question, flicking his eyes back to Amelia and giving a small nod when she murmured her agreement.

North sent one more glare at Amelia before stomping away in defeat.

* * *

 **Well there we go, chapter one is done!**

 **I hope it left you with some questions, and I hope they all end up getting answered. Also feel free to review with any questions or comments, I promise it'll all be appreciated!**

 **Special thanks to the wonderful emmagnitised for taking the time to read and give their thoughts on this, it's an honor! And also to my 'hon', they read the earlyyyyy draft for this and despite not playing the game and being utterly confused helped me shape this into something readable!**

 **Yes, the late name reveal was intentional, yes it was hard to write, yes I still think it's cool, no the other chapters won't have it (thank gosh).**

 **(edited 11-7-18)**


	2. On the Run

**Finally, chapter 2 is ready. Sorry this took so long, I originally wasn't going to write more but I couldn't stop thinking about it, so here we are!**

 **Enjoy**

* * *

 **Wayne State University**

 **6:13**

 **October 14, 2038**

The next morning was… eventful, to say the least. Amelia had told Josh to rest in the corner, his LED blank for once while he remained in standby. Amelia's night was anything but restful. After two hours of tossing and turning she resigned herself to a sleepless night, choosing instead to begin packing a bag for Josh. Eventually, it turned into one for her as well.

 _What was she doing?_ She tried to ask herself while moving throughout the dorm. Why had she told Josh she would help him, she couldn't exactly just up and leave, right? Amelia shook her head at herself in the process of gathering extra clothes, of course she should go, this was a _life_ at stake.

 _But my family-_ no, she couldn't think about them right now. It was all she could do to trust that they would at least try to accept her actions, she didn't need to worry about their reactions just yet. She buried the thoughts, using the bag she was packing to visualize the action

She paused in the bathroom, gazing at her toothbrush like it held the answers to all of her questions. And if she _did_ help Josh, what was going to be in store for her? Would she be arrested for assisting a deviant? Where would they go? How would putting the rest of her life on hold work, would she even have a life to come back to?

She glanced through the open door at Josh, the thirium on his clothes mostly evaporated and the red on his arms cleaned off. He looked so peaceful in standby, Amelia noted. Was it the deviancy affecting the way he held himself or were his features always this soft, this kind?

She shifted her eyes back down to the brush in her hand. Where was this going, she asked herself. Then her traitor mind brought her back to earlier that morning, to the darkness of the alley and the shaking of her hand.

She put the toothbrush in the backpack.

* * *

 **University District**

 **11:48**

 **October 14, 2038**

Walking through the dark streets of Detroit wasn't Amelia's favorite pastime, but at least she had Josh with her. He had somewhat recovered from his shock of becoming deviant- and his shock that he could _feel_ shock- and she could tell he was glancing down at her as they walked down the street, bright neon signs reflecting off the wet sidewalk.

She kept her own eyes resolutely forward, trying not to think about where they were going to stay that night or how many police were nearby and instead focusing on the Computer Architecture class she had missed. She had a feeling she was going to have to fake an accident to excuse her sudden leave of absence, though maybe she could get her parents to help with that.

Amelia's steps faltered at the thought of them and she turned her face away from the questioning gaze Josh shot at her, the worry brewing in her head now demanding to be acknowledged. What was she going to tell her parents?

Sure, they treated their android like family, obstinately avoided the many android protests starting to crop up, even encouraged Amelia's dream to someday see androids walking free and aware. But she had _no_ idea how they would react to Amelia essentially dropping out of college to help a deviant find a rebel android base.

She thought her mother might support it, Claire Carston had always been able to find pride in her daughter's actions, but her father-

" _Amelia watch out!_ " Josh's sharp voice broke through Amelia's musing, his swift hands catching the back of her jacket before she could walk into the path of an oncoming car. A horn blared and Amelia's eyes blew wide as she was pulled back into Josh, the other pedestrians on the street shooting them annoyed looks before moving on.

After another beat of both of them processing what had happened, Josh spun Amelia around to face him, the hands that had just pulled her from death now gripping her shoulders tightly.

Distantly she registered the slight pain from his grip.

"Are you okay? What were you thinking?" Josh questioned her harshly, worry and adrenaline glinting in his eyes like a fever while they looked over her trembling form. Amelia worked to answer him, to move her lips, to reassure him, _something,_ but she stayed frozen under the glare of his ministrations.

Then the wind picked up, blowing her short hair over her eyes and tickling her nose. She couldn't stand when it did that. Amelia finally broke free of her stupor to brush Josh's fluttering hands off of her and sweep away the dark locks in irritation. "I- I'm fine." she finally gets out, rolling her eyes when Josh raises his eyebrows. She begins walking again, tilting her head pointedly to the people still passing by until Josh gets the message and rushes to her side.

"Are you sure? Amelia what just-" "I'm fine, Josh." she interrupted, shivering a little at the thought of what could've happened. Josh caught the movement but pointedly said nothing, electing to put his arm around her shoulders instead.

Her lips curled into a small smile, and she leaned into the warmth of his body. "Thanks." she murmured.

Josh sighed in acknowledgment before pulling his hat farther over the glowing LED on his forehead. Amelia noticed the movement and sent a furtive glance of her own at the few people around them. Had one of them noticed the glow emanating from Josh's hat? Was there police already on their way?

Amelia racked her brain, trying to remember when her professor had said the Connor prototype they had been studying would be released for police use. No, she thought, shaking her head to herself. They'd know if it was after them.

They continued walking down the street, passing by stores and restaurants closing up for the night, the late hour sending less and less people out into the tense bodies slowly began to relax, the cold air around them numbing Amelia's rush of adrenaline.

After turning a few more corners and straying further from the colorful neon signs Josh broke the silence between them.

"What are you doing Amelia." he asked her softly, his dark eyes trained on their feet. Amelia looked over at him in confusion, "What do you mean?" she questioned. "Well-" Josh started, sighing as though looking for the right question to ask, "Why are you here?" he finally continued, shifting his eyes upward to look at her.

At the quizzical tilt of her head he huffed in frustration, "You didn't have to help me." he muttered, taking his arm from around Amelia's shoulders to shove his hands in his pockets. Her mouth popped open in understanding, "I know didn't, but I-" "But you did." Josh interrupted her, scowling to himself.

He seemed to check if there was anyone nearby before pulling Amelia to a stumbling stop and continuing, "You helped me, I'm a deviant now, _I'm alive_ , but do you think the other humans care?" he whispered. Amelia could see, through her shock, that Josh's LED was flickering red and yellow underneath his hat.

"If they find me and you're here, can you imagine what kind of trouble you'd be in?" he gestured wildly around them and Amelia took a step back from the android. "I've taught you enough times to see how smart you are, but when your safety is on the line you seem to throw it all away!"

He was struggling to keep his voice low, and Amelia could practically see his stress level rising. She distantly wondered how long he had been thinking about all of this.

"Josh, what-" she tried to interject but he interrupted again, a new fevered light in his artificial eyes, "And speaking of teaching you, you are going to go back right? It's bad enough you're putting yourself at risk to help me but that doesn't you can put your life on hold." he finished, the new hopeful look on his face contrasting with the intensity of the conversation.

Amelia bit her lip nervously, suddenly at a loss for words even though Josh was finally giving her the opportunity to speak. The hope on his face fell more the longer she stayed silent, and she took a step back toward him before speaking. "Well-" she began to say, and then brought her hands up to console Josh as realization crossed his features.

"But- Amelia-" he stammered in shock and she quickly tried to explain, "Listen, Josh, I _know_ what I'm doing," she insisted, placing a pleading hand on his shoulder, "You may have been stewing over this all day." she chuckled humorlessly, "If you don't mind me saying, I think helping out a few lives in danger is a bit more important than making class, wouldn't you?" she smiled sadly at his blank face, relief washing over her when his LED finally returned to blue.

He lifted his eyes to hers, a silent question reflecting in the absolute _life_ she saw in them. Amelia simply nodded, holding out her arm for him to take so they could continue moving. She didn't want to stay in the open, she hadn't forgotten about the school.

Josh had probably already been reported missing.

She wondered how long it would take for them to notice _she_ was gone as well.

She shook the thought off; they had just resolved Josh's panic attack and she couldn't afford to be plagued by anxiety right now. Josh finally allowed Amelia to lead him onwards, linking his arm with hers and resuming their walk down the dark street.

* * *

 **Ferndale District**

 **3:16 a.m.**

 **October 15, 2018**

Amelia sighed at the warmth of the convenience store, walking around all day helped keep the cold at bay but after dark it seemed unbearable. Josh was wandering down the snack aisle, searching for Amelia's favorite library snack while she went to the bathroom.

She grabbed a coffee on her way back to him, spending all day with an android had really put the necessities of humans in perspective to her. He looked up as she approached, smiling at her tired eyes with endearment. It had taken him a while to convince Amelia to make a pit stop, she finally relented when he started making fun of her rumbling stomach.

Amelia took the snacks from him, rolling her eyes as best she could at his 'I told you so' look. She was glad he was doing better and had more or less accepted that she was going with him, even more so that they had fallen into their old routine of joking with one another.

She had secretly been worried that he would have lost all of the _Josh_ ness after deviating, but his teasing gaze reassured her otherwise.

The cashier at the front was half asleep as well as he scanned their items, not seeming to notice the way Josh stood to hide his forehead, not caring that the man couldn't stop fidgeting with his hat as he took Amelia's cash.

They didn't dare try to use the school's account.

Amelia shivered when they stepped back outside, the cold air pushing her hair into her eyes. She always gets it cut shorter and shorter but it never seems to be short enough, she thinks in irritation and forces her tired feet forward. They're going to have to find someplace to stay soon, Amelia isn't sure how much longer she can keep stumbling forward.

She doesn't want to tap into her parent's emergency card, but Josh has been threatening to try using the college's money if only it'll get them into a hotel for the night and Amelia can't risk the purchase being traced to Josh's location.

Josh is the one pushing her forward now, guiding her down block after block of dark streets as she uses numb hands to drink the warm coffee. If any good is going to come out of walking this damn late, she thinks grumpily, at least there's no one around to see them.

"Amelia." she hears Josh whisper beside her. She hums a quite response and he continues, "I know we've been through this, and I'm not going to argue anymore… much." she can hear the smile in his soft voice and gives a tired chuckle, "But… What about your family?"

Oh.

That wakes her up, Amelia's exhausted mind finally starts moving again. She doesn't respond to him right away, gazing at the wet ground below. "I mean-" he breaks off, understanding in his voice, "You talk about how proud they are of you getting into college, how they wanted you to be the one to help the androids, and your brother-" "Stop." she interrupts him with a whisper.

She can feel him shift beside her to look down at her form. "What are they going to do?" he continues, and she can hear the subtle fear in his voice. Amelia's heart aches for her friend; she sighs and forces herself to answer him, "I don't know." she tells him quietly, "Whatever they say, I'll deal with it. I promise." she looks up at him, at the worry in his eyes and the yellow flicker on his forehead.

They're still walking forward, trusting the dark streets and late hour to ensure their privacy, so when Josh opens his mouth to counter Amelia and instead lurches to the side she assumes the college somehow accessed his code and sabotaged it, but how would-

Josh grunts in surprise, eyes blowing wide before blinking rapidly, as though he had something stuck in his eye. Amelia's frantic thoughts are resolved when instead of a machine Josh she sees the shadow of a figure dart from behind him and down the street.

"Hey! Watch where you're going asshole!" she shouts after the figure, already disappearing around a corner. Fuming, she turns back to Josh to find him kneeling n the ground, unfocused eyes fixed on something in the distance.

Amelia gasps and darts to his side, kneeling on the cold ground next to him and giving him a small shake, "Josh? Josh are you okay?" she questions him frantically. His eyes slide up to meet hers and she sighs in relief when he nods mutely. He stands slowly, bending down to help her up with his gaze still focused on something over her shoulder.

Amelia's fatigue has left her once again; she glances back behind her in confusion before turning back to Josh, eyebrows creased. "Josh?" she asks, trying to get his attention, "What are you-"

"Jericho." he interrupts her, making eye contact at last. She blinks in surprise. Is she sure CyberLife had nothing to do with this… episode, of sorts? "What? Josh, I don't understa-" "We have to go to Jericho." he interjects again, the intensity in his eyes pushing her a step back.

"To… where?" she tries to question again. Josh grabs her hand in response, dragging her the direction they had been walking from. "Wait, wait, Josh!" she yells in surprise at his grip, digging her heels into the ground in an effort to slow him down. He finally gets the message and turns back to her, eyes still alight with excitement. "What is a Jericho?" she asks him, exasperated.

"It's a place for deviants to go, a place where we can go to be _free_."

* * *

 **Ooooo the plot is thickening and we're approaching familiar territory. Review with a comment or question, or just a few words of what you thought, it really helps the motivation!**

 **Also, I went back and rewrote some stuff from the first chapter, seeing as how I'm making this longer than a one-shot I feel it should've reflected that more than what I originally had there. Also just fixed some stuff that annoyed me.**

 **Untile next time!**


End file.
